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Magnotta trial judge ‘not amused’ by phoney Twitter account in his name

The judge in Luka Rocco Magnotta's first-degree murder trial says he is "flabbergasted" and "not amused" about what he calls a fake Twitter account bearing his name.

A fake Twitter account with the name of Judge Guy Cournoyer is shown at the Montreal Courthouse on the fifth day of jury deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of Luka Rocco Magnotta. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Quebec Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer convened court on Saturday to discuss the account after reporters covering the trial began following it over the noon hour.

Caught off guard, the judge said he was “speechless.”

“One can imagine if, I don’t know, untruthful, bizarre things could be attributed to me, I don’t know,” Cournoyer said.

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“I’m not amused.”

Cournoyer said he began receiving notifications around lunch that people were starting to follow a Twitter account existing under his personal email. Of them, the majority were journalists covering the trial who’d discovered it around the same time.

The judge weighed whether to disclose receiving the notifications, deciding ultimately to do so.

According to Twitter, the account was created in October 2012 and had no published tweets. The account followed two people — both law professors in the United States.

“It’s very disconcerting because if anything is said during the day or the coming days attributed to me, it is not the case,” Cournoyer said.

“I have no such account and I want that to be clear. I’m flabbergasted.”

After his comments, all of the new followers, mostly journalists, disappeared.

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